Spreader for viscous materials



Jan. 28, 1964 E. K. DAVIS 3,119,138

SPREADER FOR VISCOUS MATERIALS Filed Jan. 11, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR. EARL K. DAVIS FIG.4. I 6 5M TTTTTT EY Jan. 28, 1964 E. K.DAVIS SPREADER FOR VISC OUS MATERIALS Filed Jan. 11, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet2 FIG. 8.

fisohjs INVENTOR.

EARL K. DAVIS ATTO R NEY United States Patent 3,119,138 SPREADER FURVlfiCOUS MATEREALS Earl K. Davis, Spencerport, NX. (1371 Foxwood Drive,Pitcairn, P2.) Filed Jan. 11, 1962, er. No. 167,467 6 Claims. (Cl.15236) This application is a continuation-in-part of my copendingapplication, Serial Number 155,017, filed November 27, 1961, entitledSpreader for Viscous Materials, and now abandoned.

This invention relates to a novel spreader for viscous materials, and,more particularly, to a squeegee-like tool of novel configuration forapplying a relatively viscous liquid to a surface at a relativelyuniform rate.

The invention was developed in connection with the problem of applyingrelatively uniformly thick coatings of so-called cold-coat roofingmaterial on flat roofs, and the embodiments described in thisapplication have been especially designed for such use. The practice ofthe invention, however, is expected to be advantageous for applying manydifferent viscous liquids to many different surfaces, and is not limitedto the specific use described herein.

In the application of viscous materials to surfaces it is often desiredto apply relatively thick coatings, yet for economy it is desired thatthe coatings be of relatively uniform thickness, close to the minimumthickness required. The application of such coatings is relativelydifficult, particularly in cases where the coating is applied manuallyand where the base surface is not entirely smooth and regular. Inapplying so-called cold-coat roof coating materials, for example,previous practice has been to use a brush or an ordinary squeegee.Application of these materials by brushing is laborious and requires acertain degree of skill in order to achieve the desired degree ofuniformity in the thickness of the coating. When the material is appliedby a squeegee the work progresses more rapidly and with far greaterease, but it requires a relatively high degree of skill and difficultmanipulation of the squeegee to obtain a coating of the desiredthickness, because the squeegee tends to produce only a relatively thincoating and to wipe off all but a relatively thin layer of the liquid.

Accordingly, one important object of the present invention is to providea novel spreader for spreading relatively viscous materials uponsurfaces such as built-up roofs, the iregularities of which may be largerelative to the desired thickness of the final coating.

Other objects are: to provide a novel spreader of this type which may beoperated with the ease and speed of a squeegee, yet which is shaped tometer the viscous material at a predetermined rate to produce a coatingof the desired thickness; to provide a novel spreader of this type whichis sufficiently flexible to conform to irregularities in the surface,yet which is capable of producing a coating of uniform thickness on bothirregular and regular portions of the surface; to provide a novelspreader of this type which includes means for metering the viscousmaterial upon the surface in the form of adjacent, parallel ribbons, andmeans for pressing upon the ribbons to cause them to flow together toform a smooth, continuous coating despite the flow resistance of theviscous material; to provide a novel spreader of this type which may beoperated with the ease and speed of a squeegee, yet which is shaped tometer the viscous material at a predetermined rate and to produce asmooth coating of the desired thickness; to provide a novel spreader ofthis type which is specially shaped to produce smooth coatings ofrelatively stubborn or highly fiow resistant viscous materials; and ingeneral, to provide a novel spreader for applying viscous materials,which is relatively inex- Patented Jan. 23, 1964 "ice pensive, yet easyto use and capable of producing highly reliable and uniform results.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention willbecome apparent in the following detailed description of representativeembodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a spreader blade according to afirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken along the line33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional View of a spreader blade according to asecond embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a complete spreader according to thefirst embodiment of the invention, showing the blade mounted in amounting bar which is attached to a handle for convenience in working;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a spreader according to a thirdembodiment of the invention, and intended especially for use withrelatively stubborn, or flow resistant materials;

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of a spreader blade 7 according to afourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the spreader blade shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary bottom view, on an enlarge scale of the spreaderblade shown in FIGS. 7 and 8;

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of the spreader shown in FIGS. 7, 8,and 9, as it appears in use;

FIG. 11 is a front elevational View of a spreader blade according to afifth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 12 is a side elevational view of the spreader blade shown in FIG.11; and

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary bottom view of the spreader blade shown inFIGS. 11 and 12.

Briefiy, the spreader of the present invention is somewhat similar to asqueegee in that it includes a flexible, resilient working blade. Theworking blade of the spreader of the present invention, however, hasgrooves of uniform depth extending along at least one of its sidesurfaces from its spine, or supporting portion towards its working edge.The grooves function to meter out the viscous material in narrow,adjacent, and parallel ribbons when the blade is flexed and drawn alongthe surface to be coated with the flutes, or ribs that separate thegrooves in contact with the surface.

The blade according to the first embodiment of the invention is intendedprimarily for use with relatively less stubborn viscous materials, thatis, those having natural flow characteristics such that the ribbons willflow together by themselves to form a smooth, even coating after theyhave been formed by the blade. The blade has a serrated working edge andgrooves extending along at least one side surface away from the workingedge and in alignment with the serrations. T he grooves are ofsubstantially uniform depth along their length and are shaped similarlyto the serrations, so that whether the serrated working edge of theblade engages the surface to be coated, or the blade is flexed so thatits side surface engages the surface, uniform quantities of the viscousmaterial are metered out upon the surface as the blade is drawn alongthe surface. The blade thus acts to form the viscous liquid intoadjacent, parallel ribbons upon the surface being coated, whichthereafter flow together to form a coating of relatively uniformthickness.

Certain viscous materials, however, are relatively stubborn, being sohighly flow resistant that the ribbons will not flow together in areasonable time. This is especially so in the case of certain asbestosreinforced cold-coat roofing materials. The spreaders according to thethird, fourth, and fifth embodiments of the invention are all intendedprimarily for use with such materials, although they are equallyadvantageous for use with the relatively less stubborn materials. Thesespreaders include means for pressing upon the ribbons after they havebeen formed by the grooves and flutes to force the ribbons to flowtogether and to form a smooth, continuous coating upon the surface.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 to 3, the spreader shown therein includes ablade having a serrated working edge 12, the serrations 14 being of anydesired configuration, but preferably semi-circular in shape, andseparated by convexly curved protuberances 16, which are narrow relativeto the serrations 14. Grooves 18 extend rearwardly from the working edge12 in alignment with the respective serrations 14. The grooves 18 arepreferably of the same cross-sectional configuration as theconfiguration of the serrations 14, and are of uniform depth throughoutsubstantially their entire length. The grooves extend alongsubstantially the entire working width of the blade 10, terminatingadjacent to the relatively thick supporting portion, or spine 26 of theblade. The grooves 18 preferably extend along both sides of the blade 10as shown in FIG. 2 so that the spreader may be worked with uniformresults in both directions. Alternatively, however, the grooves 18 mayextend along only one face of the blade as illustrated in FIG. 4, whichtype of construction may be desired for certain applications.

The grooves 18 are of uniform depth, and of the same depth andconfiguration as the serrations 14, thereby insuring uniform spreadingof the viscous material on the working surface regardless of the angleof attack of the spreader. In use, for example, certain portions of thespreader blade 10 will often be flexed due to irregularities in thesurface being coated, while other portions are not, so that one portionof the surface being worked is contacted by the edge 12 of the blade,While another portion is contacted by the grooved side of the blade. Insuch a situation, the serrations 14 serve to meter out substantially thesame quantities of viscous material upon the surface being worked as thegrooves 18 so that a uniform coating thickness is produced over theentire length of the blade 10.

The blade 10 is made of an elastomeric material such as rubber, or aresin, having a durometerrating approximately in the range of aboutShore A-SO to A90, the exact rating being selected in view of thedimensions of the blade and the viscosity of the material to be spread.For cold-coat roofing materials for example, a relatively stiff bladehaving a durometer rating of approximately Shore A-85 to A90 has beenfound to provide excellent results. Preferably, the blade 10 is made ofa thermoplastic polyurethane, because of the relatively high degree ofabrasion resistance of this material coupled with its ease ofmanufacture by molding.

In one embodiment of the invention in which the blade 10 was designedfor applying cold-coat roofing materials, the grooves 18 and theserrations 14 were of semi-circular shape and curved on a radius ofabout 1.5 mm. The protuberances 16 between the serrations 14, and theribs 22 between the grooves 18 were also semi-circularly shaped butconvex and curved on about a 0.5 mm. radius. The over-all length of thegrooves Was about one inch, and the width of the supporting portion 20of the blade about one-half inch. The supporting portion 20 of the bladewas about one-half inch thick.

As shown in FIG. 2, the blade 10 is preferably tapered from itssupporting portion 20 down toward its working edge 12 to insure properflexing and to avoid concentration of bending stresses at the root wherethe working portion of the blade joins the supporting portion 20.

When preparing a built up roof, it is often desired to spreadindividual, relatively narrow strips of viscous material, which aresuccessively covered by strips of impregnated paper. For such work,guard pads 24 are mounted at the opposite ends of the blade 10, beingeither integrally molded with or otherwise fixed to the blade forretaining excess material in front of the blade and preventing it fromspilling around the ends of the blade. The guard pads 24 are preferablyrelatively soft and lightly resilient so as to yield readily in responseto flexing of the blade 10 and to allow the blade 10 to maintain fullcontact with the working surface. The bottom surfaces (not separatelydesignated) of the guard pads are in the plane of the protuberances 16of the serrated working edge of the blade when the blade 10 is in itsrelaxed position, as shown.

When the spreader is to be used for producing a continuous coating overa relatively large area, it is preferably used without the guard pads24, especially if the material being spread is tacky.

The blade 10 may be mounted in any convenient holder such as the holder26 illustrated in FIG. 5, which consists of an elongated block of woodsuch as oak or maple having a longitudinal slot .28 in one surface forreceiving the supporting portion 20 of the blade 10. A handle 30 issecured by any desired means to the holder 26 for manipulating thespreader.

Spreaders that include only a blade 10 or 10' of the kind shown in FIGS.1 to 5 provide optimum results only when they are used for spreadingmaterials having reasonably easy flow characteristics such that theribbons left by the blade 10 or 10' will flow together by themselves andreduce under the action of gravity and surface tension to a smooth,non-striated coating. The embodiments of the invention illustrated inFIGS. 6 to 13 effectively overcome this limitation, and include meansfor mechanically pressing upon the ribbons, and thereby reducing themeven though the material being spread is relatively highly stubborn, orfiow resistant.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 6 includes a spreader blade 10 similar tothe one shown in FIG. 4, and having grooves 18 along one face, and anauxiliary presser blade 32 mounted in the same holder 34 with thespreader blade 10 adjacent to the smooth face 35 thereof. The presserblade 32 is mounted parallel to the spreader, or metering blade 10, andprojects beyond the serrated working edge 12 of the blade. The presserblade 32 may be mounted immediately adjacent to and in contact with thespreader blade 10 as shown, or, if desired, it may be spaced from thespreader blade 10.

The presser blade 32 is sufiiciently flexible so that it does not have ascraping, or metering effect on the viscous material being spread. It issufficiently resilient, however, to press upon the ribbons of viscousmaterial formed by the spreader blade .10 with enough force to cause theribbons to flow laterally, and to merge into a smooth, continuouscoating of uniform thickness. The exact degree of resilience should beselected in view of the stubbornness of the material to be spread.

The presser blade 32 may, for example, consist of a strip of celluloseacetate about twenty-five thousandths of an inch thick, and sufficientlywide to extend about an eighth to a quarter inch beyond theprotuberances 16' of the working edge of the metering blade.

The spreader illustrated in FIG. 6 is limited to working in only onedirection. The presser blade 32 must always trail the metering blade10'. -It is for this reason that it is shown with the single-sidedmetering blade 10'. The double-sided metering blade 10 shown in FIGS. 2and 3 may also be used as an alternative in the spreader shown in FIG. 6in place of the single-sided blade 10, but the grooves 20 facing thepressure blade 32 cannot then be used.

The embodiments of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 13 overcomethis limitation, and are bi-directional. Both their metering means andtheir smoothing means are fully operative in both directions of workingwithout mutual interference between them.

The spreader 40 illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 10 is intended primarily forspreading viscous materials of easy and medium flow resistance, that is,for all but the most stub born materials. The spreader includes aworking blade 42 of a flexible, resilient, and abrasion-resistantmaterial such as thermoplastic polyurethane, which is believed to beamong the best presently available materials for the purpose. The blade42 includes a spine, or supporting portion 44 by which it may be mountedin a holder 46 for easy manipulation. Grooves 48 separated by flutes 50extend along the sides of the blade 42 from the spine 44 toward theouter edge 52 of the blade. The grooves 48 are of uniform depth alongsubstantially their entire lengths. The flutes 50 and the grooves 4 8terminate at their outer ends along a line 54 spaced inwardly from theouter edge 52 of the blade. The ends of the grooves 48 and flutes 5t}constitute the metering edge of the blade 42.

A smoothing fin 56 molded integrally with the rest of the blade 42extends outwardly from the metering edge 54 for a distance of aboutone-quarter inch, more or less, depending upon the resilience of the fin56 and the viscosity and flow resistance, or stubbornness of thematerial to be spread.

As best shown in FIG. 10, suflicient pressure is applied to the blade 42during use so that the flutes 56 contact the surface 58 being worked,different portions of the blade bending to different degrees toaccommodate irregularities in the surface 58 along the length of theblade, but all portions of the blade 42 being flexed sufficiently tocause at least a relatively small terminal portion of the flutes 50 tolie within about of the surface 58, or flatter. Thus, the grooves 43will serve to meter out substantially uniform quantities of the viscousmaterial 60 upon the surface 58 in the form of relatively narrow,adjacent, parallel ribbons.

The smoothing fin 56 constitutes the trailing portion of the blade 42regardless of the direction in which the blade is Worked, and pressesupon the parallel ribbons of the viscous material causing them toflatten out and to merge with one another, thereby forming a continuouscoating of uniform thickness across the entire length of the blade.

The material of the blade 42 and the dimensions of the various portionsthereof are selected, in View of the viscosity of the material to bespread, to provide for proper flexing action of the blade 42 in use. Thecore portion 62 (FIG. 8) between the grooves 48 on the opposite sides ofthe blade is preferably made relatively thin to compensate for thestiffening effect of the flutes The spine 44 is preferably of anintermediate thickness, that is, intermediate in thickness between thethickness of the core 622, and the over-all thickness of the groovedportion of the blade. It is desirable that the spine 44 be relativelymore flexible than the grooved portion of the blade 42 so that, in use,the flutes 5!) can be brought into contact with the surface being coatedby the application of a reasonable pressure upon the spreader handle 64.The blade 42 is sufliciently flexible in its lengthwise direction sothat it can flex differently at different portions along its length toconform to irregularities in the surface being coated.

The smoothing fin 56 may be of approximately the same thickness as thecore 62 of the blade so that it yields relatively readily and does notexert sufficient pressure on the material being spread to effect ametering action supplemental to the metering action of the grooves 43and the flutes St The material of the blade 42 may have, for example, adurometer hardness rating in the range of about Shore 40 to about Shore90, and is preferably softer than the blades 10 and 10 describedhereinabove in connection with FIGS. 1 to 5. The blade 42 should flexmore readily, and not require undue effort to keep the flutes 50 incontact with the surface 58 being coated.

When the blade 42 is intended for use in spreading cold-coat roofingmaterials, for example, it may be integrally molded of a thermoplasticpolyurethane having a durorneter rating of about Shore 50. In this case,the grooves 48 may be of semi-circular cross section, curved on a radiusof about inch; the flutes 50 may also be curved, but convex, and onabout a & inch radius; the over-all length of the grooves 48 and flutes50 may be about inch; the minimum core thickness, about & inch; theoverall thickness of the grooved portion, about inch; the thickness ofthe spin 44, about 7 inch; and the thickness of the fin 56, about inch.The spine 44 may be mounted to support the grooved portion about inchfrom the support 46, and the fin 56 may extend about A inch from themetering edge 54.

The blade 70 shown in FIGS. 11 to 13 is generally similar to the blade42 shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, except that, in place of the fin 56, itcarries a smoothing bar '72 spaced slightly outwardly from the ends ofthe grooves 74 and the flutes 76. The blade 70 is intended primarily forspreading the most stubborn, or flow resistant materials, but may alsobe used for applying relatively less stubborn materials.

The bar 72 is preferably molded integrally with the rest of the blade70, and, as shown, is in the form of an extension of T-shaped crosssection to the core 78. The bar 72 constitutes the cross of the T, andthe supporting portion constitutes the stem.

In use, the bar 72 serves not only to smooth the ribbons of viscousmaterial as they emerge from the grooves 74, but also to meter thematerial and to control the final thickness of the coating. The grooves74 and the flutes 76 feed the viscous material to the bar 72, and keepthe bar properly spaced from the surface being coated. In the idealcase, the grooves 74 would meter the viscous material at exactly therate called for by the bar 72, but because of differences in the angleat which the bar '72 is supported as caused by variations in flexing ofthe blade along its length, this is relatively difficult to achieve. Itis preferred, therefore, to make the grooves 74 slightly larger thanrequired to match the metering action of the bar 72, and to rely uponthe bar for the final determina tion of the coating thickness.

The bar 72 should be spaced sufliciently far from the open ends of thegrooves 74 to permit the viscous material being spread to flow togetherafter it emerges from the grooves 74. In practice, this may require aspacing of about a sixteenth of an inch, more or less, depending on theflow resistance of the material to be spread.

The bar 72 should be positioned as close to the ends of the grooves andflutes as possible in view of the flow requirement in order that it besupported as rigidly as possible with respect to its spacing from thesurface being coated. The supporting portion 80 should be fully as thickas the core 78 of the blade, and may, if desired, be flared outwardlyfrom the core '78 toward the bar 72 for increased rigidity.

In use, the blade 7 0 is flexed similarly to the blade 42 shown in FIGS.7 to 10, and may be worked in either direction. The flexibility of theblade 70 allows it to conform to irregularities in the surface beingcoated similarly to the other blades described hereinabove.

I claim:

1. A spreading device for spreading a coating of relatively uniformthickness of a relatively vicous liquid upon a surface comprising aflexible, resilient blade having a working edge, said blade havinggrooves along at least one face thereof extending away from said workingedge, said grooves being separated by flutes that are narrower than saidgrooves, said grooves being of uniform depth along substantially theirentire length, whereby when said blade is drawn over a surface uponwhich the viscous liquid has been placed with the grooved face of saidblade in engagement with the surface, the viscous liquid escapes fromthe blade in the form of relatively uniformly thick parallel adjacentribbons despite variations in the degree of flexure of said blade, saiddevice also including means for pressing upon the ribbons so formed assaid device is drawn along the surface thereby to cause the ribbons toflow laterally and to merge together into a smooth coating.

2. A spreading device for spreading a coating of relatively uniformthickness of a relatively viscous liquid upon a surface comprising aflexible, resilient blade having a working edge, said blade havinggrooves along at least one face thereof extending away from said workingedge, said grooves being separated by flutes that are narrower than saidgrooves, said grooves being of uniform depth along substantially theirentire length, whereby when said blade is drawn over a surface uponwhich the viscous liquid has been placed with the grooved face of saidblade in engagement with the surface, the viscous liquid escapes fromthe blade in the form of relatively uniformly thick parallel adjacentribbons despite variations in the degree of flexure of said blade, saiddevice also including means for pressing upon the ribbons so formed assaid device is drawn along the surface thereby to cause the ribbons toflow laterally and to merge together into a smooth coating, said meansincluding a relatively lightly resilient blade having a smooth workingedge, and means mounting said lightly resilient blade adjacent andparallel to said grooved blade with said smooth working edge projectingbeyond said working edge of said grooved blade.

3. A spreading device for spreading a coating of relatively uniformthickness of a relatively viscous liquid upon a surface comprising aflexible, resilient blade having a working edge, said blade havinggrooves along at least one face thereof extending away from said workingedge, said grooves being separated by flutes that are narrower than saidgrooves, said grooves being of uniform depth along substantially theirentire length, whereby when said blade is drawn over a surface uponwhich the viscous liquid has been placed with the grooved face of saidblade in engagement with the surface, the viscous liquid escapes fromthe blade in the form of relatively uniformly thick parallel adjacentribbons despite variations in the degree of fiexure of said blade, saiddevice also including means for pressing upon the ribbons so formed assaid device is drawn along the surface thereby to cause the ribbons toflow laterally and to merge toether into a smooth coating, said meansincluding a relatively lightly resilient blade having a smooth workingedge, and means mounting said lightly resilient blade adjacent andparallel to said grooved blade on the side thereof opposite from agrooved face thereof with said smooth working edge projecting beyondsaid working edge of said grooved blade.

4. A spreading device for spreading a coating of relatively uniformthickness of a relatively viscous liquid upon a surface comprising aflexible, resilient blade having a working edge, said blade havinggrooves along at least one face thereof extending away from said workingedge, said grooves being separated by flutes that are narrower than saidgrooves, said grooves being of uniform depth along substantially theirentire length, whereby when said blade is drawn over a surface uponwhich the viscous liquid has been placed with the grooved face of saidblade in engagement with the surface, the viscous liquid escapes fromthe blade in the form of relatively uniformly thick parallel adjacentribbons despite variations in the degree of flexure of said blade, saiddevice also including means for pressing upon the ribbons so formed assaid device is drawn along the surface thereby to cause the ribbons toflow laterally and to merge together into a smooth coating, the ends ofsaid grooves adjacent to said working edge being open, said meansincluding a fin-like projection extending beyond the open ends of saidgrooves.

5. A spreading device for spreading a coating of relatively uniformthickness of a relatively viscous liquid upon a surface comprising aflexible, resilient blade having a working edge, said blade havinggrooves along at least one face thereof extending away from said workingedge, said grooves being separated by flutes that are narrower than saidgrooves, said grooves being of uniform depth along substantially theirentire length, whereby when said blade is drawn over a surface uponwhich the viscous liquid has been placed with the grooved face of saidblade in engagement with the surface, the viscous liquid escapes fromthe blade in the form of relatively uniformly thick parallel adjacentribbons despite variations in the degree of fiexure of said blade, saiddevice also including means for pressing upon the ribbons so formed assaid device is drawn along the surface thereby to cause the ribbons toflow laterally and to merge together into a smooth coating, the ends ofsaid grooves adjacent to said working edge being open, said meansincluding a fin-like portion projecting beyond the open ends of saidgrooves and having a surface joined flush with the bottoms of saidgrooves.

6. A spreading device for spreading a coating of relatively uniformthickness of a relatively viscous liquid upon a surface comprising aflexible, resilient blade having a working edge, said blade havinggrooves along at least one face thereof extending away from said workingedge, said grooves being separated by flutes that are narrower than saidgrooves, said grooves being of uniform depth along substantially theirentire length, whereby when said blade is drawn over a surface uponwhich the viscous liquid has been placed with the grooved face of saidblade in engagement with the surface, the viscous liquid escapes fromthe blade in the form of relatively uniformly thick parallel adjacentribbons despite variations in the degree of flexure of said blade, saiddevice also including means for pressing upon the ribbons so formed assaid device is drawn along the surface thereby to cause the ribbons toflow laterally and to merge together into a smooth coating, the ends ofsaid grooves adjacent to said working edge being open, said meansincluding a bar having a smooth edge, and means for supporting said barin a position spaced outwardly from the open ends of said grooves withsaid smooth edge aligned intermediately between the bottoms of saidgrooves and the tops of said flutes, said bar being spaced suflicientlyfar from the open ends of said grooves to permit the ribbons of theviscous liquid formed by said grooves to flow laterally together in thespace between the ends of said grooves and said smooth edge as saiddevice is drawn along the surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,008,952 Gach July 23, 1935 2,054,448 Russell Sept. 15, 1936 2,943,338Lowen July 5, 1960 2,984,857 Amcs May 23, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 197,512Austria May 10, 1958 929,689 France July 15, 1947

1. A SPREADING DEVICE FOR SPREADING A COATING OF RELATIVELY UNIFORMTHICKNSS OF A RELATIVELY VICOUS LIQUID UPON A SURFACE COMPRISING AFLEXIBLE, RESILIENT BLADE HAVING A WORKING EDGE, SAID BLADE HAVINGGROOVES ALONG AT LEAST ONE FACE THEREOF EXTENDING AWAY FROM SAID WORKINGEDGE, SAID GROOVES BEING SEPARATED BY FLUTES THAT ARE NARROWER THAN SAIDGROOVES, SAID GROOVES BEING OF UNIFORM DEPTH ALONG SUBSTANTILLY THEIRENTIRE LENGTH, WHEREBY WHEN SAID BLADE IS DRAWN OVER A SURFACE UPONWHICH THE VISCOUS LIQUID HAS BEEN PLACED WITH THE GOOVED FACE OF SAIDBLADE IN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SURFACE, THE VISCOUS LIQUID ESCAPES FROMTHE BLADE IN THE FORM OF RELATIVELY UNIFORMLY THICK PARALLEL ADJACENTRIBBONS DESPITE VARIATIONS IN THE DEGREE OF FLEXURE OF SAID BALDE, SAIDDEVICE ALSO INCLUDING MEANS FOR PRESSING UPON THE RIBBONS SO FORMED ASSAID DEVICE IS DRAWN ALONG THE SURFACE THEREBY TO CAUSE THE RIBBONS TOFLOW LATERALLY AND TO MERGE TOGETHER INTO A SMOOTH COATING.